For his return to St. Louis, comedian Hannibal Buress gave a strong 45 minute set for his nearly sold-out show Sunday night at the Pageant. The bad news is that he was actually on stage for 95 minutes. Labored bits and a lack of focus marred what had the makings of a decent show.
East St. Louis native Willie Lynch Jr. warmed the stage up for Buress with a set that felt as much like a health and nutrition lesson as a standup routine. Lynch, who typically gives a solid performance, seemed out of his comfort zone with the mostly white audience – which is understandable considering he’s known for routines rooted in Black Nationalism and black history.
While they were polite, there was still the sense that they weren’t particularly tuned in.
Buress started out strong with an intro that eviscerated president-elect Donald Trump.
“The host of ‘The Apprentice’ is our next president,” Buress repeated as he gave an itemized list of Trump’s countless faux paus while on the campaign trail and incidents prior to his running that were so unbelievable that they garnered laughter without a hint of embellishment for the sake of the show.
“Listen, he’s said some things that would get him fired from Wendy’s, and yet he’s about to be president,” Buress said.
His lack of focus and inability to gauge when a joke should actually end meant that he spent most of the night being counterproductive to what a comedian with better instincts would have turned into a successful offering.
Some moments had the makings of classic material – including trolling himself about being the subject of a celebrity groupie tale on the internet.
Other bits, like the one about planning his funeral and AirBnB experiences seemed to be simply for the sake of filling time.
He deserves credit for localizing his material. He talked about the Rams, and spent a considerable amount of his time on multi-platinum St. Louis rapper Nelly.
He called him a pioneer for being the first rapper to simply hum as his intro on the track.
Typical for the night, he carried on with the joke far too long playing the hum over and over.
The jokes related to rap were among his highlights – especially when he talked about rapper Riff Raff.
“He had a DJ playing his music and he was just up there chilling and would come in and say two words,” Buress said. “Basically he got paid to vibe out to his own music –which is good work if you can get it. It seemed kinda disrespectful, but nobody seemed to mind.”
He then cued audio of himself doing a comedy routine, and came in to talk along with the joke for the sake of delivering the punchline.
The bit worked for a while, but true to form Buress beat the audience over the head with it.
When it was all said and done, Buress gave the type of performance typically associated with a young, hungry comic with serious potential but in need of the pruning and polish that are prerequisite for comedy stardom.
